Hebrew
prophecy had not been silent respecting this divine secret (cf. Isa. 56:5); but
it had remained an unwelcome topic to the Jewish mind, absorbed in the
contemplation of its own peculiar privileges and construing any ultimate
extension of their compass only as foreshadowing accessions of Gentile
proselytes to the ranks of the theocracy. To us indeed, as we look back over
nineteen centuries of the out-workings of Christianity, God’s wider purposes
may sound almost a commonplace. To Paul, however, they stood out in relief
above every other phenomenon in the annals of mankind, as the veriest clue of
the ages, the disclosure of the divine program touching mankind. And that he
should be deputed for its setting on foot sent a thrill through his inmost
being, at once elating and blended with awe and wonder. (E. K. Simpson and F.
F. Bruce, The Epistles to the Ephesians and the Colossians [The New
International Commentary on the Old and New Testament; Grand Rapids, Mich.: Eerdmans
Publishing Co., 1957], 72–73)
V.
5. God by revelation had made known to Paul a mystery, or purpose, which was
not revealed as it now was to the apostles. That the Gentiles were to partake
of the blessings of the Messiah’s reign, and to be united as one body with the
Jews in his kingdom, is not only frequently predicted by the ancient prophets,
but Paul himself repeatedly and at length quotes their declarations on this
point to prove that what he taught was in accordance with the Old Testament;
see Rom. 9:25–33. The emphasis must, therefore, be laid on the word as. This
doctrine was not formerly revealed as, i. e. not so fully or so clearly as
under the Gospel. (Charles Hodge, A Commentary on the Epistle to the
Ephesians [New York: Robert Carter and Brothers, 1858], 162–163.)
Further Reading:
